Why on earth is Kerry O'Brien still delivering such velvet-gloved handling of Kevin Rudd? Have a look at the transcript of last night's interview, mainly about the COAG meeting and its decisions relating to the Murray-Darling. The short version goes like this:
O'Brien: Mr Rudd, scientists say there is an immediate crisis in the Murray, has COAG actually addressed that?
Rudd: [waffle, waffle, waffle, asks himself and answers 4 questions ] Yes. Sort of. It'll take a year or two, but yes.
O'Brien: So, are you really, really sure you can promise us that that's true?
Rudd: well, I can't make it rain, but [asks himself 3 questions, waffle waffle waffle] yes. In a year or so.
O'Brien: Please forgive me, I'm now going to ask a really long question. [Short version: do you think emissions trading will be a really big issue for you?]
Rudd: we were elected to make tough decisions, [waffle waffle waffle] yes, more or less.
It seems to me that O'Brien's questions indicate that he knew there were grounds to specifically attack the COAG meeting for in fact refusing to do the immediate thing that the scientists demanded, but he refuses to put tough questions directly to Rudd. (Read the reports from Fairfax, News Ltd and the ABC that complain about the COAG result here, here, here, here and here.) Instead, O'Brien's questions are all open-ended invitations to Rudd to answer in any way he pleases. Mild scepticism would seem to be the strongest emotion O'Brien can bring himself to display in his interviews with our PM.
O'Brien has always treated Rudd this way, and I want to know why. Has Rudd's staff got some dirt on him or something? I find it truly puzzling.
3 comments:
Maybe the good Kerry, should be replaced by an entertainment jock, like Alan Jones, or Howard Sattler.
This truly must surely satisfy, the RWDB's delusion, that the A.B.C. is full of left wing troglodytes.
Still for good ol Kerry, it probably makes a change to listen to a leader that doesn't make bullshit a bloody science like our last P.M.
Anon, if you think Rudd is above BS as a science, you are probably not worth engaging on the point.
But honestly, anyone can see that O'Brien will be aggressive, dismissive and probing in other interviews (mainly with the Opposition, but sometimes with other Labor figures too.) But with Rudd in particular, his style is invariably to allow him to go on at length and not pursue him with pointed, direct questions.
The other thing is that Kerry has on at least one occasion made comments that indicate that he doesn't like Rudd's media management approach (as does none of the media), but again you would never guess this from his interviews with Rudd himself.
That Rudd is not above "Bullshit" Paaaalease! tell me something I don't know.
It is obvious Kerry does not suffer fools gladly,and he will attack those on the left as well as the swill on the right, if they make an attempt, to take him for a fool.
Kerry is probably one of the best interviewers this country has ever produced, and most on the right hate his guts cos "He is on to them"
Any of the commercial stations, would snap this man up in an instant.There is nobody that even comes close to this man, end of story.
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